Weekly Report - 01 November 2018

ARGENTINA: New corruption case poses more trouble for Fernández

It has taken five years, but on 29 October a massive money-laundering trial, known as ‘la ruta del dinero K’ finally had its first day in court. It will not be over quickly. This particular Argentine scandal is a journalist and storyteller’s delight. If proven in court, the allegations would appear to have a bit of everything: a bank clerk who became one of Argentina’s richest businessmen but ended up in prison; a kleptocratic ruling family; sackfuls of illicit dollars so large they had to be weighed rather than counted; and a complex network of paper companies (many registered in the US state of Nevada) used for money-laundering purposes. Perhaps more significantly, it also illustrates the politicisation and inefficiency of the Argentine judiciary.